


Closing Night

by 003D



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:07:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26368420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/003D/pseuds/003D
Summary: Rodrigue and Gilbert are shitty fathers who skip out on Felix and Annette's show to go to Dimitri's hockey game. What happens next?
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	Closing Night

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off a tweet I read a while ago. I don't know where it is honestly, but I've had brain worms for so long to write this. Enjoy <3

The moon was bright in the sky as a light flutter of snow fell onto the pavement. The street and building lights lit up the area with gentle light that almost felt like yellow fire. People were driving on the road, many were running around trying to find their cars and rides. Many were still being given flowers and candy as congratulatory gifts for their performance tonight. Friends and lovers were hugging the actors, laughing and screaming out in ecstasy as this was the final show for the semester. Along with friends and lovers, however, came siblings and parents. Many had their eyes lit up as their father and mother hugged them, stating how proud and well they performed on stage; some even invited the cast members out for dinner along with close friends.  
Annette sits at the bottom of the pavement stairs; the stairs lead to the Heron Auditorium where all of the major plays and musicals are showcased to the student body and public. The building was a few stories high, also acting as a school building for acting classes - it was both a place of education and performance arts. The singer sits alone, her blue and orange jacket keeping her warm as the snow continues to kiss her hair and face. She’s on her phone, mindlessly scrolling through her timeline, waiting for her dad to reply:

 _best closing night ever!!!_ 😆 

_this cast is like a family to me. Luv yall!_ 💗 

_My girl kicked ass on stage! Fuck it up!!!_ 😍

 _My family surprised me and came to watch me tonight…_ 🥺

Annette mindlessly likes the posts, taking in the smiles of her friends and their peers; they all celebrate the payoff for all of the long rehearsals and stress they endured with this show. She hums to herself one of the main tunes from the show:

The singer checks her texts again. No replies. She decides to send her dad another text.

_Father, I am waiting at the stairwell in front of the theatre. Are you lost?_

“He didn’t come back, you know,” Annette jumps from her place, yelps out loud a bit. She quickly turns around, and sees a man in a dark blue jacket with a fuzzy collar.

“F-Felix! Um… are you still waiting for your father? He must be busy with something-“

“-My old man didn’t come at all. You know this.”

There’s an intense silence between the two, only the sounds of idle chatter in the background - windy flurries being blown across the road.

“... I’m, um, waiting for my dad to come pick me up. Do you want a ride back to your place?” Felix finally looks down at Annette still standing next to her as she’s sitting down.

“No. I don’t mind walking. Sylvain drove me here, but he left soon after the show was over.”

“Yeah,” Annette smiles, remembering the ginger hair of the failed-romantic sticking out in the crowd. 

_Annette! You were as lovely as always on stage. You have to show me how you were able to keep up with everyone’s dancing and singing - your movements ever oh so inspiring._

The singer giggles, flattered by the compliment even if they were empty words.

“The idiot knew I was an extra in the cast. He acted as if I was the star.” 

Felix stretches his arms out, as he finally sits down next to the red head.

“... you might as well have been. Manuela made the right choice in giving you those solos,” Felix looks out onto the street, not facing Annette. The girl blushes, her faces easily turning red with the snow melting on her nose.

“Oh, but Dorothea 100% deserved the lead role, though. She’s way more experienced and talented than me.”

“I wasn’t talking about her, though. You were good too,” Felix raises his arm, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away, embarrassed, “uh… congratulations on a successful closing night.”

Annette gives the man a smile that he could’ve sworn melted all the snow off of her with how warm and bright it was.

“Well, if it wasn’t for the tech crew, we wouldn’t have had a show in the first place! Thank you, Mr. Fraldarius,” Annette jokingly nods to him, giving him a soft bow in gratitude for all of his hard work. Felix forms a weak but noticeable smile in the corner of his mouth.

“... I should be thanking _you_. You’re the one that convinced me to join the tech crew. It was honestly… fun (mostly) with a few setbacks and stressful times. I’m just glad we were able to find your purse last second tonight, though.” Annette’s eyes widened in fear as she remembered the anxiety she felt at that moment.

“Oh my god, right when I was waiting for my cue, I knew my left hand felt lighter than usual. I still can’t believe I lost my purse, though. You practically saved me when you found it under the couch backstage.” Annette puts her face in both of her hands as she shrugged hard into them. She was trying to calm herself down as she was beginning to cringe at her memory.

“Hey, nothing bad happened. That’s all that matters,” Felix says to help her calm down. He rests his elbow on his knee as his face lays on his hand. Annette laughs softly into her hands.

“I know,” she says, looking up, “it’s just…” Annette struggles to finish her sentence. She simply looks off again, her eyes back onto the road, and keeps her awkward smirk on the corner of her mouth. The both of them go back to being quiet as they soon listened to the last of the people leaving the theatre. The air begins to get tense again, as similar thoughts weigh on both of their minds.

“... I’m sorry that your father couldn’t be here tonight,” Annette says, intertwining her fingers on her lap. The awkward sentence left a heavy weight on her tongue as she tried to address the elephant in the room.

Felix has similar ideas: “Don’t apologize. I knew he was most likely not coming. He even said so himself. I’m…” Felix freezes up, struggling to voice his next sentence to her.

“... it’s a shame your father didn’t come back. I knew you were actually excited to see your dad. I’m…” a lump formed in his throat as he tried to get the words out.

“... I’m sorry, Annette…” Annette’s forced smile washed away from her face as she heard his condolences. She let out a long sigh, extremely glum again from her reality crashing down at her. 

“... it’s… ok,” she looks away so that she wouldn’t have to see his reaction, “I knew he couldn't stay for the entire show, anyway. He… he said that he would try to stay for as long as possible. He’s probably busy at home now, helping my mom.” This thought alone was keeping Annette sane, what kept her from blowing up from frustration and disappointment. Felix felt even worse, however. He knew about the difficult relationship between Annette and her dad; hell, even the singer knew the relationship between Rodrigue and him. At this point, they both understood how the other felt… and none of them was proud of that.  
“... I think you deserve to see this,” Felix says, sighing. He takes out his phone, and opens up his Instagram. Annette raises a brow, looking at Felix.  
“Hm? Is it a photo of me?” Annette says, a bit excited to see what photo of her was posted.  
“Not… exactly.” Felix responds. There is in his voice. Guilt and even bitterness of sorts.

_She doesn’t deserve this… none of us do…_

Annette excitedly leaned in to see Felix’s screen… when suddenly a frown formed on her face. She couldn’t believe what she was looking at, but at the same time, she wasn’t surprised.  
“... Dimitri looks pretty happy with our dads, yeah?” Felix says with a deadpan tone in his voice. The prince had a hockey game the same time as Annette and Felix’s closing night. In the photo, Dimitri was wearing his gear, hyping himself up in the locker room. Dimitri took a selfie, with Gilbert and Rodrigue next to him. Rodrigue had his arms around Dimitri like he was his son, while Gilbert was on the other side, standing tall and stern with a small smile on his face. The photo has hundreds of likes…

“... he said… he said he was busy…” Annette says, almost choking through her words.  
Felix winces at the pained sound, grunting under his breath out of annoyance.  
“... so did mine,” Felix finally says. Annette stayed still and silent, still leaning in to see the photo. Felix continued to leave the photo on his phone screen as the both of them stared at it. After a minute, he finally closes his phone, and puts it in his pocket.  
“... I know my old man sees the boar more as a son than me. But he told me earlier today that after work, he would try to come to the show… I didn’t believe him for a second,” Felix lies. Despite his anger towards his father now, that said anger was proof enough that Felix had a scrap of hope that Rodrigue would come tonight. Annette felt the same with her father - she was just more vocal and open about it to him. Annette stayed silent after hearing his comment, though.  
“... I’m tired,” Annette mumbles under her breath.  
“Yeah,” Felix replies. He knew that she wasn’t just tired from the long weekend of performing. He decided to let her speak, though - not wanting to speak for her.

“I can’t even be surprised anymore whenever my dad pulls this shit. I can’t even muster up the energy to cry, anymore. I’m just… I’m just tired of loving him sometimes.”  
A heavy silence sat in between the two. Annette had her phone in her bag while her hands were resting on her lap. Felix looked down at the ground as he rested his elbow on his knee, laying his face on his hand. They allowed themselves this moment of utter sorrow, disappointment, frustration… of bitterness. No one person tried to butt in, trying to cheer up the other one or break the awkward silence. They allowed themselves and the other to just… feel. 

“... I’m walking back to my apartment. Do you need a ride back to your place?” Felix says after many minutes of silence. Annette perks her head up in shock, almost forgetting that Felix was there.  
“W-wha? Um…” Annette was still trying to compose herself, to not have her negative emotions cloud her thoughts and such: “My dad might come to pick me up-”  
“- do you really want to see your dad, now? Of all times?” Felix says as he gets up. He gestures his arm to accentuate his words and claim. “Even if he did come down here, after lying to you and abandoning you tonight, would you really want to see his goddamn face?” Annette takes in the energy that Felix was emitting, and was getting mad herself.  
“I know, I know! Just… ugh!” Annette gets up herself, and faces Felix. Her hands form two fists as she stomps on the ground a bit and gestures to the ground. “I don’t… I don’t know what to do now. Just… I want to see my dad still, but at the same time I don’t want to. Like… I just don’t know. I just don’t…” Annette chokes on her words a bit, hiccuping at her sadness. Tears start to fall down her face, her hands tighten even harder. She bites the bottom of her lip, having them turn a dark red of sorts. She angrily wipes her tears away.  
“Fucking shit, I didn’t want to cry. I… I fucking hate this,” Annette says in between her tears. Seeing this, a flame lit up in Felix’s eyes, anger started to boil in him. He quickly walks down the stairs down to the sidewalk.  
“... you coming down?” Felix says, shouting out to Annette. Annette opens her eyes, sniffling a bit due to her crying and the snow.  
“U-um… sure,” Annette needed someone to snap her back into reality. She was glad that it was Felix. Annette needed someone to be with, so that she wouldn’t be alone in her head anymore.  
She was glad that it was Felix.

She skips down the steps quickly to reach Felix. He then starts walking away from her. Annette raises her eyebrow, and walks next to him.

“U-um, thank you for the ride back home. You uh… you really didn’t need to-”

“We’re not going to my apartment yet.” Annette let’s out an audible confused sound.  
“Huh? What do you mean?” Annette faces him, trying her best to read his expression. Like the snow, it was cold, still, unchanging… but pleasant at the same time. It was cold enough that it made you feel something, but soft enough that it was still comforting.

“You’ll see. Just follow me,” Felix responds blunt and cold. Annette simply nods and looks forward, following the boy.

The two walk in silence, side by side as the snow continues to gently fall on their heads and clothes. It almost felt like the flakes were giving them tiny kisses, consoling them for the night. The street lights provided a nice white glow that matched the aura the moon was giving off. It was quiet despite the cars that would occasionally drive by and the conversations of strangers passing by. 

After about 20 minutes of walking, the both of them reach the hockey rink. Annette stares up at the building, feeling its size and height hover over her head. It acted as a reminder of her father’s negligence, his stubbornness, his apathy, his-  
“Follow me,” Felix goes past the stadium, not even batting an eye at it. He was probably trying not to look at it, knowing that it would only make him more angry. Annette struggled to keep up with the Fraldarius boy, feeling his anger fuel the speed at which he walked.  
“H-hey! Where are we going? Felix?” Annette finally manages to move next to him. She leans in to look at him. His face has a more vivacious expression. It looked as if whatever he was walking and waiting for was finally about to pay off soon.  
The both of them go through a metal grey door, leading into the parking lot. They walk up the stairs as they arrive at the parking lot’s first floor.

“A-are we looking for your car? Your dad’s car?”  
“My dad’s car, yes.”

“Did you forget something?”

“No.”

“No? Then why are we-”

“Just watch. Keep an eye out for your dad’s car, also. Help me.”

“Um… ok?” Annette was so confused at this point that she almost forgot why she was upset in the first place. Annette goes into her pocket, and takes out her keys.

“I actually have a spare key for my dad’s car. He lets me borrow his car a lot when he can. I’ll, um, use it to find it,” Annette says, feeling the cold metal sit on her hand. Looking at it, she sees the black body of the key: the lock, unlock, emergency, and trunk buttons. 

“Good. Can you make the car’s sound go off so that we can hear where it is?” Felix finally stops walking to look at Annette. The singer almost felt like she was catching her breath.  
“Um, sure, let me just…” She fumbles with her keys, and presses the lock button.

_Beep!_

Felix quickly turns to the source of the sound, as if a predator trying to locate its prey.

“It’s on this floor. Follow me,” Annette shrugs and starts walking again.  
“You keep saying that! What exactly are we doing?” After five more minutes of walking around, they finally find a bright white Prius and a dark blue Mercedes benz.

“Oh, there they are!” Annette says, her eyes lighting up.

“Finally,” Felix mumbles under his breath. He quickly walks up to the white Prius.

“Um, if you need something from my dad’s car, I can get it for you,” Annette idly walks over to the Mercedes benz and opens the door, “can you tell me what you need-” suddenly, Felix opens his coat’s inside pocket, and takes out a swiss army knife. He extends out the blade without looking at it - as if it were instinct to do so with ease. He then slowly kneels down to the white Prius, facing one of the back wheels… and slashes the tire.

Annette hears a sudden pop and a burst of air fly out of somewhere. Confused, Annette gets out of the car, and walks over to see what Felix was doing. 

“F-Felix!” Annette says, gripping her bag tight to her chest. She was now standing behind Felix as he was still slashing the same tire: “What are you doing to your dad’s car?!”

Felix let out a sigh. His expression grows more soft, as if a weight was finally lifted from his shoulders. He even gives a smirk to the deceased tire.

“What does it look like?” he slashes the tire once more. Annette drops her bag and walks up to Felix. She places her hand on his shoulder.  
“Stop! This is your dad we’re talking about. You can’t just do this to him-” suddenly, Felix turns around. He gets up, and faces his body towards Annette.

“Annette,” the man had a sort of disappointed look on his face, as if saying _I expected more from you._ Annette winces at the expression, scared of what he thought of her now.  
“I-I’m sorry, just…” after Annette was unable to finish her sentence, Felix resumed talking.  
“... you know more than anyone that I don’t give a damn about my old man. Why the fuck do I need to act like a perfect son when he can’t even act like a decent father?” He says with much vitriol. His eyes were wide with bitterness and he was breathing heavily.

“I’m living for myself tonight. I think you should do the same,” Felix then extends his hand, and holds out his knife to Annette. Annette gasps, putting a hand to her mouth.  
“I...I…” Felix extends his hand further out as if stressing his offer.  
“Annette, I know you need this.”  
“But I don’t have anything against your father-”

“You know who I’m talking about.” Annette stays quiet, sighing that Felix could read her mind so well now - now of all nights. She sighs, and slowly takes the knife from his hand. She stares at it for a long moment.

“It’s… it’s not right. I shouldn’t do this.”

“But you want to.”

“I-I just want my dad and me to be happy-”

“There’s no way in hell that’s happening tonight. Not tonight, tomorrow, next week, or next month. Your old man has nothing but apathy for you at this moment. You give him way too much credit, Annette. You need this. You deserve it,” Felix places his hand on her shoulder, points to the Mercedes benz with the other. Annette didn’t have the energy to love her father, now; she didn’t have the energy to defend him, nor the patience. She looks down at her hands, feeling the cold steel of the switchblade. She takes in a deep breath, and slowly exhales, trying to calm her nerves. She then grabs the handle of the knife, and steeles herself. She furrows her brow, bites down her lips, and turns around. She then finally looks down, seeing her dad’s car right in front of her. She takes a couple of steps to one of the back tires, and kneels down.

She stays there, staring at the tire as if this were a big moment in her life - one she had to prepare herself for. She lifts up the knife, having it in the corner of her vision now.  
_Father… I’m sorry, but I need this. I need this too much to care about you right now. So please let me do this as I say…_

“... fuck you,” Annette quickly slashes the tire of her dad’s car, and a blast of wind bursts out. Annette lets out a yelp as the sound it makes is louder than before. Out of reflex, she slashes the tire again… and again.

And again

And again

And again...

…

… and again.

Felix stood behind her as he watched this all unfold. He was glad that he felt in control, again. He was glad that Annette was finally giving her father what he deserved. He was glad… that they could do this together. He gives the first genuine warm smile of the night, happy to see the singer do all of this

It was several minutes before Annette spoke again, breaking the silence between them.  
“I’m… I’m doing this for me.”

“Yeah,” Felix responds.

“This… this night is mine,” Annette says with increasing confidence.

“Yeah.”

“Tonight, I’m doing whatever the hell I want.”

“Yeah.”

“... Tonight, I’m doing whatever the fuck I want!” Annette's voice reverberates a bit throughout the parking lot. She keeps her volume in check when this happens. Silence again formed between the two as she breathed heavily and looked up at the ceiling.

“So,” Felix says, breaking the silence, “what are you gonna do, tonight? If you could do anything tonight, what would it be?” Annette turns around, her expression and face looking the most strong and confident it had all night long. She gave the man a smile.

“Teehee, well first, I think we need to get out of here.”

Felix gives her a devilish grin as he nods in to the woman.

“Agreed.”

A couple minutes later, after running out of the parking lot - they raced each other (Felix won, and Annette jokingly got mad) - they now stood a good solid five minutes away from the stadium. The both of them stop their race at a stop sign, and catch their breath as they lean their hands on their knees. The both of them laugh at each other, poking fun at how ragged their clothes look and how sweaty the other was - out of shape. After this tender moment, Felix repeats his question to Annette.

“I… I don’t know. I mean,” she crosses her arms, and looks down at the ground as she sorts through her options.

“... all of our friends are out tonight, celebrating closing night.”

“Oh yeah, I honestly… almost forgot about that,” Felix rubs the back of his neck and looks away, embarrassed at his faulty memory. “Guess tonight just really… I don’t know.”

“I know what you mean,” Annette reassures Felix, “I’m honestly not in the mood to go to a party now. But,” Annette ponders on whether to confess her next thought to Felix or not.

“... I don’t want to be alone tonight,” Annette pouts a bit, looking down at the ground. Felix’s heart melts a bit, grinning at how adorable this girl is.

“... hey, if this night is yours, then this night is mine as well.” Annette looks up at Felix as he says his comment.

“Huh? Felix, what do you mean?”

“Annette, wanna come over to my place for the night? No way in hell I’m going to a party now, and…” Felix blushes a bit, embarrassed that he too was confessing this to Annette, “... I don’t want to be alone either…” Felix looks away, flustered at himself and the woman. 

The singer and the swordsman have known each other for the past year. Their friendship had started off rocky, but slowly turned into something where the both of them now couldn’t imagine their day without the other. They understood each other’s pain and trauma. They looked at each other, and respected the other for how they dealt with it. They each had a strength that the other envied; each one had flaws that the other was patient with. Was this bond romantic? A strong friendship? Something that transcended beyond that?

Annette walks up to the flustered man, and gently hugs him. She holds him tight, embracing the feel of his jacket and his warmth - his fuzzy collar tickling her a bit. They stood there and hugged each other for a solid minute when Annette pulls herself away to say:

_“Of course, Felix. I would love to.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I really hope you like it. I had a lot of fun writing it. <3


End file.
